Monday, October 31, 2016

No one celebrates this holiday
in this country but that’s cool, I’m going to celebrate with buying a mango for
50 cents every day cuz that’s like my favorite thing of every day. The fruit
here is so crazy!!! Other than mangos and bananas I have never seen or heard of
these things in my life. Some are good, some are bad and some are horrible but I
like trying different things.

This week I was able to make chocolate
from scratch that was awesome!! It was a super fun night but home made
chocolate tastes pretty nasty

We also got to make this
Arepas with this family from Venezuela! I love learning how to make crazy food
from here and other countries

Not much time this week but I’m
getting excited for my second baptism next week!

Today was pretty rushed but
we played volleyball, withdrew money from the bank, ate hamburgers, washed
cloths, went to the tia which is like a mini Wal-Mart but is huge compared to
anything else here, and am writing now.

Monday, October 24, 2016

So I guess I never explained why last week was almost the
perfect week.... well it was super awesome and I was crazy excited because I
had my first baptism planned last week but on Saturday she never showed up for
it and that was so depressing, but then I realized it was for a good reason and
that she needed to learn more before she, Paola, was baptized.

However, this week I had my first baptism!! Like I’m so pumped
about this still! Its crazy to think that I’ve only been here for 3 weeks but
at the same time every day is starting to go by faster and faster. My converts
name is Belisarìo and he doesn’t like pictures but is actually a really happy
guy! (I’m hoping the pictures will work this time)

This week there is a huge soccer game! It is against Barcelona
(no idea how to spell it and its a local team not the other one) against Amulek
(which is another huge local team) it’s like the biggest rivalry game and
everyone is getting pretty excited about it! So yeah Wednesday will probably
not be too productive.

This week we were told to leave Naranjal and go to Guayaquil
for this big meeting of leaders (my comp is the DL) so that was super cool and I
meat a ton of the missionaries in my mission!! After the two days of meetings
we were told we could go to the temple!! Which is actually a huge deal on the
mission! But when we got there no one had their recommends so we couldn’t
enter.... we decided to go work in another sector and on the way back we saw a Wendy’s
and they all freaked out!!!! Ha-ha I was dying! They made the taxi pull over
and we grubbed hard. I laughed because I have been there within the last 3
months but they haven’t been in almost 2 years

Monday, October 10, 2016

First week in Ecuador! Not gonna lie, it was a pretty rough
week. I can say about anything I want to in Spanish. But understanding them....
oh man, they talk so flipping fast here. Like honestly I think they’re talking another
language half the time.

In regards to the title: this statement describes Ecuador
very well (or at lest the part I’m in, and this is not considered ghetto at all
I’ve been told) but to be honest, I’m actually beginning to love it so much! Every
time we leave our apartment building (which is on the 3rd floor and is like 4
rooms and holds all the elders in my zone) I am just so happy to be here. It
was super hard my first few days cuz I felt super useless and unsuccessful. But
Sunday turned things around. I’ve just had the biggest change of heart and am
trying to learn to love the people (which has been hard because I cant really
understand them that well)

My companions name is Elder Hudson, he is from Washington/Idaho
and loves to play basket (basketball) he is actually really good, he’s a little
smaller than me and loves to clown around and make President Clinton impersonations.
He’s super good at the piano and Spanish.

The people here are so awesome! I haven’t meet one person that’s
been rude or even kinda mean. Everyone says hi to each other and a lot of
people love to yell ELDERS and wave. The people we visit always give us something,
which is pretty cool since they don’t have much. The most common thins is
bananas or mangos! Oh man these mangos are day makers! Seriously the best
things I’ve eaten on my mission!

Oh I gotta talk about the showers and washing cloths. So my
shower is literally a hose attached to a wall in this cement square with a
drain. And the water is soo cold every day haha! Then to wash cloths we go on
our roof and use this faucet, bucket, and brush to wash our cloths. Its kinda
weird to say but I really like washing my cloths this way, makes me feel like I’m
accomplishing something on my own for once.

I’ve learned that sometimes its ok to rely on others. Especially
the savior this week. I was feeling so down when I first started and just
thought ´I guess I can endure this for two years´ but ever since Saturday night
I’ve decided that it will get better, I will be able to change lives, and I
will be able to feel more of what the Savior felt during His mission. Super
grateful for these trials because they have helped me decide what kind of
missionary I want to be.

The food here is kinda weird. Good, but weird. First off
they have like 20 different kinds of bananas. My favorite is called verdes
(greens) that they cut up, boil in oil and smash them after. They eat rice with
everything here, which is great cuz I love it. Soup is super common here too,
they usually throw fish in it too, but this fish hasn’t been deboned or anything.
Haha my first day I got soup and it had the head of a fish in it, teeth and
all. I was just like, ``welcome to Ecuador Elder Stidham´´ some things here are
super cheep and others are way more expensive. We eat tuna, avocado, hard
boiled eggs and blended up banana smoothie every morning. Our momitias make us
lunch every day and its always mystery food to me. And no dinner cuz they don’t
really do that here, but it’s ok because the juice makes up for it!!

Chupa la piña is something a lot of missionaries say here
which is pretty funny. It’s kind of a joking way to say making out. Literally
it means `sucking the pineapple´

The lessons here are so hard. Not only because I don’t
understand most of the conversation, but also because there are so many
distractions!! Ahh it’s killing me. We finally had our first super spiritual lesson
and then her sister came in, gave our investigator (Juana) a crying baby and
left. But there’s always something going on and so many loud noises. Most of
our lessons are outside on the doorstep, they just bring stools outside and we
talk there.

Its been a long week, had a great P day, now I’m looking
forward to getting back to work! Love you all!

I appreciate the prayers and support

Chao

I am in Naranjal right now. It’s not very hot here.
In fact it’s actually pretty cold in the mornings and evenings.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Ahh I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to call you guys today... I tried
in Mexico and no one could figure it out. Then I tried again in Colombia and
the phones only took Colombian coins and thy wouldn’t let us change our money.
Well I got here safely and it’s not at all what I was expecting. I just met my
new companion and I’m super excited for this week! This is his last transfer so
I’m his last companion, and everyone was really excited when we were announced
to serve in our area! Sorry that’s super vague but I’ve been overloaded with
things going on today that I can’t remember anything. Oh my gosh my Spanish is
so much better than I was expecting! But I still have a very long way to
go.

Ok so I gave out my first book of Mormon in the airport in Mexico
and I’m super excited about that. She is a teenage girl from Canada who was
going to Colombia for an 8-month backpacking trip. She gladly took the book because
it was in Spanish and she wants something to read and help her learn while she
is traveling. The funniest part though was that we got on the plane and were
sitting right next to each other! So I basically got to talk and laugh with her
all flight. Defiantly had my spiritual missionary moment but she’s also young
and super funny so that was awesome too!!